Cleaver Delivers for Baseball Cats on Friday
Kentucky pitcher Ben Cleaver was expected to be a mainstay in the Cats’ weekend rotation this season. The lefty started the 2026 campaign as the Saturday starter and he got a win in his first outing of the season against UNC Greensboro.
Cleaver was solid in his next three starts, despite not factoring in the decision in any of them. However, when Southeastern Conference play started, Cleaver had his share of struggles. He gave up at least two runs in all five of his conference starts, and he was the losing pitcher in three of those games.
After being in the rotation through the Auburn series, Cleaver was removed from the weekend. He started a non-conference game at Louisville last Tuesday, but only pitched one inning.
On Friday night, the UK staff sent Cleaver to the mound to face No. 24 Tennessee, and the junior delivered. Cleaver set season highs in innings pitched (seven) and pitches (85). The lefty shut out Tennessee through those seven innings, striking out four and walking two, while giving up just four hits in the Cats’ 9-2 win over the Vols.
Ethan Hindle talked about Cleaver following Friday’s win.
“He’s been working extremely hard to try to get out there and do the things he can do,” Hindle said. “He set the tone for the whole game.”
Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione talked about how deserving Cleaver was of having an outing like he did on Friday.
“If there’s a guy that deserves an outing like this, it’s him,” Mingione said. “I give Ben so much credit. Ben has never stopped working. Obviously, it’s not the year he wanted to this point. If there’s ever been a guy that deserves it, it’s him. It’s just his heart and how much he cares.”
Kentucky is on the NCAA Tournament bubble with three weeks left in the regular season. The Cats needed an outing like the one Cleaver had on Friday, and Mingione knows how big his performance was to the team.
“Our team needed it,” Mingione said. “He showed up in a big way. That was awesome.”
Cleaver was effective from the beginning tonight, something that impressed Mingione.
“His pitch counts were great,” Mingione said. “He had some quick innings and got our defense involved. That’s a really good offense right there (Tennessee). That worked out good.”
Despite his struggles, Mingione said the UK staff never stopped believing in Cleaver.
“We believe in Ben,” the UK head coach said. “There’s no question. So, he stepped up and I’m glad it worked out.”
When Kentucky needed him the most, Cleaver delivered in a Friday night win over Tennessee.
